Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to reporters in Statuary Hall after meeting with Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie on May 6.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to reporters in Statuary Hall after meeting with Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie on May 6.
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The House of Representatives overwhelmingly put on hold Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion calling for a vote to remove Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. The vote was 359-43, with seven councilors present to vote. 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats voted to introduce the motion.
“I hope this puts an end to the personal politics and frivolous character assassination that have characterized the 118th Congress,” Johnson told reporters after the vote. “It’s unfortunate. This is not who we are as Americans and we are better than this. We need to get over it.”
Only 10 Republicans voted alongside Greene.
As promised, House Democrats largely supported shelving calls for Johnson’s removal, making Greene’s effort symbolic.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Greene an “agent of chaos” in remarks after the vote.
“The only thing we ask of our House Republican colleagues is for the traditional Republican Party to further isolate the extreme MAGA Republican wing of the Republican Party, which has brought nothing but chaos and dysfunction to the American people,” he said. Ta.
The vote was the culmination of weeks of threats by Georgia Republicans.
Although the bill failed, Greene and other Republicans remain angry that Johnson relies on votes from Democrats to pass major legislation.
“Mike Johnson worked with [Senate Majority Leader] “Chuck Schumer, not Congress, gave Joe Biden and the Democrats everything they wanted — no different than House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would have done,” Greene said of Johnson. He spoke on the floor while reading out a number of criticisms.
“This is a united party for the American people watching,” Greene said as boos erupted in the House of Representatives as she introduced her motion to resign.
Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie are seen arriving here to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson on May 7.
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Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie are seen arriving here to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson on May 7.
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How did Green get here?
Greene opposed Johnson’s negotiations with Democrats on a $1.2 trillion spending package that ultimately passed the House with Democratic support over Republican support, leading to her dismissal in March. Since submitting the motion to remove the prime minister, the government has been considering whether to invoke a vote to remove the prime minister.
Greene threatened to move forward with a motion to resign after the House voted on the Ukraine aid bill last week.
Her resolution was co-sponsored by Arizona Representative Paul Gosar and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie.
Mr. Green has met with Mr. Johnson twice this week, including one meeting for more than two hours on Monday.
“Everyone was listening. It wasn’t a shouting game,” Massey said of Monday’s meeting. ”[Greene] And I decided to give Speaker Johnson one last chance to say I’m going to join the Republican Party and not the Democrats, but there are some litmus tests for this.”
Those litmus tests, Greene and Massey said, included no additional funding for Ukraine or funding for a special counsel investigation into former President Donald Trump, and that Johnson had the support of a majority of the Republican conference. He said he would simply bring the bill to the floor.
Appearing on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast on Tuesday, Greene said she also wants 12 individual spending bills rather than another omnibus led by Schumer “just shoved down our throats.” .
“This cannot be tolerated again,” he said, adding that House Republicans would have to pass 12 separate bills to cut spending by 1%.
Members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus have expressed dissatisfaction with Johnson’s actions during his short term as speaker, but most say they still don’t want to plunge the conference into another speakership battle.
Greene has also come under pressure from former President Trump. Greene and Trump met over the weekend, and Trump urged Greene to withdraw, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
After Wednesday’s vote, President Trump asked Republican lawmakers on social media to vote on the motion.
“We are not in a position to vote on a motion to vacate,” he wrote. “Maybe someday, but now is not the time.”
NPR’s Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.
